Grants and Operations Manager
The opportunity
We are a small team of three: the Executive Director, the Senior Program Officer, and the Grants and Operations Manager. The Grants and Operations Manager keeps our grantmaking and operations running smoothly, so the whole team can focus on what matters most: strong relationships with grantees and thoughtful, responsive grantmaking.
Working alongside the Senior Program Officer, who leads our program relationships and grant review, this person manages the systems and administration behind each grant, from application to final report, coordinates the Foundation's financial work with our external accounting firm, and manages the vendors and systems that keep a small office working. The role reports to the Executive Director and works closely with the Senior Program Officer.
In your first months, we'll ask you to get curious about how the Foundation works. Our systems reflect years of care and know-how from the people who built them. You'll spend time learning them, documenting how things work, and exploring with the Executive Director where we might make them simpler or stronger as we grow.
Key responsibilities
Grants administration (40%)
- Manage our grants database (Blackbaud GIFTS Online), including templates, coding, and correspondence
- Process inquiries, applications, invitations to apply, and declinations across our spring and fall cycles
- Review every application for completeness and eligibility, and review each applicant's financials
- Prepare award letters and grant payments once grants are approved, and verify grantee payment information before payment
- Track progress and final reports, and send reminders in coordination with the Senior Program Officer
- Maintain the annual grants calendar with the Senior Program Officer, keeping deadlines, grant review, board meetings, and reporting dates aligned
- Assemble grant summaries and dockets for board materials, and prepare financial snapshots and grant histories
- Submit our annual grants data to Candid and other industry grant reporting tools as necessary
- Report on the Foundation's grantmaking, including requests, awards, declinations, and payments
- Gather feedback from applicants and grantees on our process, and recommend ways to make it clearer and less burdensome
- Steward our grants management system, making sure it's the reliable record of our work: setting simple standards for what gets recorded, helping staff capture their own notes and conversations, and flagging gaps so the full picture of each grantee is there
Finance coordination (25%)
- Enter transactions in QuickBooks and prepare grant and vendor payments for the Executive Director's approval
- Process invoices and expense reports
- Keep the calendar of financial and filing deadlines, including information for the Maine annual report
- Perform monthly bank reconciliation
- Create the annual budget process and quarterly financial reports, with the Executive Director
- Create and track the Foundation's payout scenario and cash needs for grantmaking and operations
- Paperwork for investment purchases and redemptions
- Estimated tax payments, year-end close, and 1099s, working with our accounting firm
Operations (20%)
- Coordinate board meetings: venues and catering, board books and grant materials, director voting forms, and post-meeting filing of minutes and decisions
- Manage annual conflict-of-interest disclosures for directors and staff
- Maintain board contact lists, policies, procedures, and filing systems, both digital and physical
- Carry out our document retention policy
- Update website content and create thoughtful, values aligned communications as needed
- Coordinate insurance and benefits renewals with our broker
- Keep the office running: supplies, stationery, and vendor accounts
Program support (15%)
- Serve as grantees' consistent point of contact for site visit logistics: explaining what a visit involves and what to expect from the conversation, helping organizations prepare, and attending with the Senior Program Officer and/or Executive Director as needed
- Serve as primary contact for a small part of the grant portfolio each cycle
- Answer applicants' questions about process
- Pull data for evaluation and board reports
- Support any beyond-the-grant activities as needed
- Participates in Grants Management user groups
Who we're looking for
No candidate will bring everything below, and we encourage you to apply if you see yourself in most of it.
- At least four years of experience in grants administration, nonprofit operations, or finance coordination
- Experience with a grants management and/or accounting databases; familiarity with QuickBooks and/or Blackbaud GIFTS is a plus
- Comfort reading a nonprofit budget, financial statement, or Form 990, and an eye for what matters
- An understanding of the grantseeker’s perspective and a habit of building relational processes and systems
- Understanding of the IRS rules that govern private foundation grantmaking, or the ability to learn them quickly
- Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage several processes moving at once
- Clear, warm writing and communication, especially with grantees
- Curiosity about how systems and technology can make a small team's work easier
- Discretion with confidential information and sound judgment working independently
- Knowledge of the nonprofit community in southern Maine is helpful
- A bachelor’s degree, or relevant work experience in its place. A degree is not required.
Compensation and location
This is a 30 hour a week position based at the Foundation's office in Portland, Maine, and hybrid. The salary range for this position is $69,000–$75,000 and based on experience. The Foundation offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes health insurance, an annual employer retirement contribution, professional development opportunities, and paid time off.
How to apply
Please send a resume and a cover letter describing your interest in the role and relevant experience to Gloria at gnicholson@samlcohenfoundation.org. Please apply by October 26th. We anticipate filling this role by December 7th.
The Sam L. Cohen Foundation is an equal opportunity employer. Candidates of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.
About the Sam L. Cohen Foundation
The Sam L. Cohen Foundation is a philanthropic foundation that strives to ensure that all people have the opportunity to develop their potential and provide healthy, productive futures for themselves, their families, and their communities. With a focus on southern Maine, the Foundation exists to support 501(c)(3) organizations whose mission is consistent with this vision.
Our work rests on three core beliefs: everyone deserves an opportunity to have a fulfilling and productive future; family and community are of utmost importance in life; and giving back to one's community is a fundamental value.
Supported by an endowment of more than $30 million, in 2025, we awarded nearly $3 million in grants across multiple cycles in five focus areas: Arts & Culture, Civic & Community, Education, Health & Human Services, and Jewish Culture & Traditions.